Monstrous Online Suicide Game Has Hit UK Schools

The online suicide challenge known as Blue Whale has reportedly hit schools in the UK.

Families reported earlier on in the year that the police were warning schools of an online game called Blue Whale, which encourages children to self-harm and commit suicide. Sadly, it appears the craze has reached UK schools, with children as young as seven being reported to have played it.

The game involves a 50 day challenge, where the child is expected to carry out various challenges, including self-harm and watching scary movies, before ultimately being told to kill themselves on day 50. To find out more about the game, see here.

Online child protection specialist, Jonathan Taylor, has told Sky News that a child in Year 3 at a UK primary school had asked him about the game. He commented, “I would not be speaking to primary school children about Blue Whale but they know about it. When I asked who else had heard about this, you had 20 hands go up.”

At the moment, there have been no deaths in the UK as a result of the game. The vast majority of fatalities have been reported in Russia, however there have also been incidents linked to the game in Estonia, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina and the Ulkraine.

What to do if you are worried about your child gong online

The NSPCC says that “talking to your child – openly, and regularly – is the best way to help keep them safe online.” They have the following advice for talking to your child.

Explore sites and apps together

Talk to your child about which sites and apps they like. Write a list and look at them together. Be positive, but also be open with your child. Tell them what concerns you, and help them to feel involved. Go through a final list of sites you both agree are OK.

Ask about things they see online which might have made them uncomfortable.

Talk about things that they and their friends have seen which have made them uncomfortable. Why did they feel that way? Was a person or animal being hurt? Link this to the real world and explain you are always there to help, be it online or offline. Reassure them that they can talk about anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Show them how to report and block sites.

Talk to them about how they can stay safe on social networks

Ask your child if they know:

Where reporting functions are

How to block someone

How to keep information private

Talk about online privacy, and explain that online behaviour should mirror behaviour in person. Explain that talking to strangers isn’t always “bad”, but that they should be careful about what they share and sometimes people aren’t always who they say they are.

Reassure them that you won’t overreact

Let them know you are interested in all parts of their life and say you like to chat about what they have seen online, and you’ll share what you have been looking at too. Recognise that they will be using the internet to research homework.

What to do if you are concerned

If you are concerned about your child, you can contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000. Let your child know that they can contact Childline on 0800 1111 if they are worried about anything.

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